Lapis Has Become a Gem / Chef's creations now more focused

What a difference a year makes. When Thomas Ricci opened Lapis, his creative combinations didn't quite hang together, although there were glimmers of greatness.

In the past year the 26-year-old chef has pulled back a bit and refined his craft, and his combinations have soared. Many creative chefs who head a large kitchen at such a young age become stuck, but Ricci's cooking has become more natural and focused.

He dresses up mixed greens ($8) with candied pumpkin seeds and a marvelous sweet-sour white balsamic dressing that just coats the leaves and sets up a tangy contrast. Biting down on one of the round fried balls around the perimeter of the plate releases a warm gush of blue cheese. It's a simple but amazing combination.

Ricci also takes the ubiquitous crab cake ($13) -- which is better than 90 percent of those elsewhere -- and expertly pairs it with Moroccan spices, a carrot salad with cilantro harissa and a carrot emulsion.

Fortunately, he knows when to leave well enough alone. One of the best dishes I remember from a year ago is just as good today: skewers of warm grilled grapes, lamb and dense meatballs ($10) served with an orange and red onion salad.

For main courses the chef sautes a chicken breast ($19) with a pungent crust of black olives that flavors the whole dish; it's served on a brothy bed of red wine and onion risotto with slightly bitter broccoli rabe and pearl onions.

One of the most unusual dishes-- both in style and price -- is the Atlantic cod, which is by far the most expensive item on the menu at $32. The seared fillet is paired with nicely browned root vegetables on one side, a swirl of turmeric and fennel emulsion in the middle. The expense of the dish comes from an intricately layered terrine of porcini, chanterelle and black trumpet mushrooms surrounded by leeks.

For dessert, a chocolate brown butter apple tart with caramel fudge ice cream ($8) was hard to envision, but the myriad flavors came together beautifully. We had to order the sweet potato butter crunch cake with red beet ice cream ($7) just to see how they would pair. The somewhat dense cake was coated with tiny pellets of sugar that burst into the interior. The ice cream was electric pink in color and had a mild flavor; it tasted more like vanilla than anything else. It was good but a little esoteric.

The interior of the restaurant wears well; the wall of windows overlooking the bay helps set a romantic tone, and the trendy industrial interior with open beamed ceiling and kitchen is softened by heavy fabric hung from the support columns. They also work to visually divide the room.

Service, once we got seated, was good. Unfortunately, things weren't nearly as accommodating at the host stand, where customers can stand for quite some time before being acknowledged or seated. The host led us to a table next to the bar, not a smart idea because the bar was packed with drinkers towering over the table.

We asked for another table and were told that every other one was booked. So we asked her to explain how that could be the case when we saw only three tables in the 100-seat dining room filled. We finally got another table, and from there the service was as calm as the bay shimmering right outside the window.

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LAPIS
Pier 33 at the Embarcadero (near Bay), San Francisco
(415) 982-0203
Lunch 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. weekdays, dinner 5:30-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday and
until 11 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Full bar. Reservations and credit cards
accepted. Valet $8 at dinner.
CHART:
BC:
OVERALL: THREE STARS
Food: THREE STARS
Service: TWO AND A HALF STARS
Atmosphere: THREE STARS
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PRICES: $$$
NOISE RATING: FOUR BELLS
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RATINGS KEY
FOUR STARS: Extraordinary
THREE STARS: Excellent
TWO STARS: Good
ONE STAR: Fair
(box): Poor
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$ Inexpensive: entrees under $10
$$ Moderate: $10-$17
$$$ Expensive: $18-$24
$$$$ Very Expensive: more than $25
Prices based on main courses. When entrees fall between these categories,
the prices of appetizers help determine the dollar ratings.
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ONE BELL: Pleasantly quiet (under 65 decibels)
TWO BELLS: Can talk easily (65-70)
THREE BELLS: Talking normally gets difficult (70-75)
FOUR BELLS: Can only talk in raised voices (75-80)
BOMB: Too noisy for normal conversation (80+)
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Chronicle critics make every attempt to remain anonymous.
All meals are paid for by the Chronicle.
Star ratings are based on a minimum of three visits.
Ratings are updated continually based on a least one revisit.